By POOK AH LEK
Sin Chew Daily

The turbulent year of 2019 has now become a part of history, as we usher in a new decade.

Unfortunately, not everything looks rosy for the country in the year ahead. Every aspect of life from politics to economy, culture, education and ethic relations, nothing looks promising or reassuring for Malaysians.

2019 was full of unpleasant events. The final mile in UEC recognition appeared to be further and further from us with no end in sight. Our day-to-day expenses kept rising during the past one year, making life very much more difficult for ordinary people like us. Companies were not doing a brisk business either, and there was nowhere they could turn to for help. Against such a gloomy backdrop, Malay nationalists picked up steam in their clamorous demands, never slackening in making threats.

Our flying car project was a big joke that failed to take to the sky. Former CPM sec-gen Chin Peng's ashes were littered in the open sea and at the foothills of Titiwangsa Range, but his ghost seemed to continue haunting some in this country.

Questions on Anwar's ascension to premiership and the male sex video scandal remain unanswered to this day. Umno and PAS tied the knot out of their shared interests as they vowed to recapture Putrajaya, deepening concerns over the Islamisation of this country.

Although former PM Najib Razak was ordered by the court to enter defence in the 1MDB case, a certain country was reluctant to hand over Jho Low, a key person in the scandal. At the same time, controversial Muslim preacher Zakir Naik was accorded VIP reception by the PH government. A Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) exam paper even exalted the Indian fugitive as an “icon of the Islamic world”!

Meanwhile,, DAP's state assemblymen were detained under SOSMA (a Draconian law the PH government had vowed to repeal) and hauled into the court for alleged involvement in LTTE terrorist activities, while infighting within PKR picked up momentum following the open split between Anwar Ibrahim and his dissident deputy Azmin Ali.

But, none of the above has caused more uneasiness to the local Chinese community than the incorporation of Jawi calligraphy in the BM curriculum for Chinese and Tamil primary schools.

While we managed to take out Umno in GE14, we unwittingly welcomed a bigger trouble in the form of PPBM. Indeed Umno is racist in essence, PPBM is not any better, and is just as much a disaster to the country.

The education ministry helmed by PPBM's Maszlee Malik has over the past one year introduced a good deal of highly unpopular policies. After introducing Jawi calligraphy at vernacular schools, the ministry again allowed the Islamic Propagation Foundation (Yadim) to carry out evangelical activities at schools, teachers' training colleges and public universities nationwide, including vernacular schools. If not for the devoted and unrelenting efforts of Chinese educationists, these policies could have become irreversible by now.

On the issue of Jawi teaching at Chinese primary schools, the school boards were denied of their say, and the national congress by Dong Jiao Zong was abruptly halted by a court injunction on the grounds of national security and public order because of threats from Muslim NGOs.

Many simply can't understand why a Malay Dignity Congress teeming with highly inflammatory remarks were given the green light while the Chinese Organisations Joint Congress held behind closed doors would pose any tangible threat to national security.

We can only explain this whole thing as a consequence of overwhelming racial and religious supremacy.

So far the only perceptible use of learning Jawi is to recite the Quran, and the purpose of enforcing the learning of Jawi among SJKC students couldn't have become more apparent. Unfortunately, Teo Nie Ching, touted as the best deputy education minister in the country's history, has failed to stop this absurdity.

In the first version of Jawi calligraphy module, Jawi script is supposed to be learned at Year 4 for Simpulan Bahasa, and then Peribahasa in Year 5 and Cogan Kata in Year 6, only to be cut down to three pages at the protest of the local Chinese community. Moreover, due to the continuity of the module, it is very likely that Jawi will continue to be taught as the students proceed later to the secondary school.

Vision 2020 is no longer relevant today, and PM Mahathir now looks to a shared prosperity vision 2030 that will see Malaysia eventually admitted into the elite group of developed nations. Nevertheless, this dream will only materialise if all Malaysians irrespective of race and religion come together as one nation.

As we usher in a brand new year and decade, it is our wish that Malaysians will learn to respect one another and cherish our diverse cultural legacies in erecting a more tolerant, harmonious and united country for all.